Wilsons Promontory Backpacking Trip

Two weekends ago (is time flying, or what?) Shannon and I went to Wilsons Prom to go backpacking with our friends Bryan and Bronwyn. It was just a quick overnight, about 10k each way, so we rolled up early Saturday morning in lovely weather.

The profile of the hike is up for about 4k and down for about 4k, with about 2k of flat at the end. Not too steep, the max elevation was about 330m. On the inland side, it looked very much like the Lake Tahoe area.

But as soon as you get on the ocean side, things become much more lush.

Just before reaching the beach, there is a river with trees swung low across. This river has a bridge, presumably to accommodate day walkers.

And then you pop out onto a lovely beach at Sealers Cove.

Just before the camp area, there is a tidal river. When we got there, we were about two hours ahead of high tide, so it wasn't too bad - water was just up to my knees or so. But later that afternoon, we did watch some people that were hauling packs overhead with water to their stomach. The last few hours of the tide coming in were rather dramatic.


This was a short hike, and keeping with the mellow theme, Shannon brought along a Christmas present from her brother and sister in law that we hadn't used before. And let me tell you. Best. Gift. Ever.

This is pretty much how we spent the afternoon. A two person hammock that weighs a little over a kilo is a beautiful thing. Eventually the sun started going down, which turned into a beautiful thing on its own.





After a fairly uneventful evening, save the possum that decided to snack on a bit of our breakfast (because I stupidly left some food out), and then have a screaming match with his buddy in the middle of the night, we awoke to a spectacular sunrise over the cove.




There had been rain predicted for Sunday, and we were pretty sure that we were going to see some when we saw the double rainbow. But hey, we saw a double rainbow. The first was full, and the second one nearly so, but it was far too close to get a picture of the whole thing.


After a wet, but not impossible hike out, we had an uneventful trip back to Melbourne. The weather didn't get any better than gray for the rest of the trip, but I think Saturday made it all worthwhile. This park is worthy of another visit.